Attorney Matthew Poole discusses how important it is to find solutions that offer a high level of customization in order to narrow your reach to the potential client that offer you the highest probability of retention regardless of the cost of your legal services. Mr. Poole shares with you the various types of advertising he has tested to generate new law firm business for his solo practice. He explains how he was about to leave his stressful and less profitable associate job at one of the largest, downtown law firms in his area. He also offers tips and ideas concerning how to start a law practice of your own with less risk and less expense. He also shares the “hidden costs” that some less targeted advertising presents and that the idea of focusing on obtaining call volume to generate quality clients does not work and is unprofitable.

Mr. Poole shares real world experience on why traditional advertising such as full page yellow page ads, radio, newspaper and print items are not targeted enough to attract and retain the right type of client and how that is a costly mistake. Attorney Poole shares a valuable technique that he uses to attract the right amount of call volume from clients who were targeted toward the types of clients that his legal services would be a benefit to for a fraction of the cost of all other advertising.

Content marketing will be bigger than ever. This author disagrees. Content marketing has never been an effective audience-building tool in and of itself. Nor has it been particularly effective at engaging audiences. Content marketing will continue to be a priority because it is a necessary component of an online footprint. But the trend here really should more how to use content to engage audiences. The keyword is engage.

Social media marketing will require more diversity. Again, this author disagrees. Most brands have yet to master even a single social platform. Rather than diversify their social footprint, the trend will likely see brands pulling back on some platforms such as YouTube, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest, and focusing more on mastering Facebook and Twitter. When those two are done well, the rest fall in line. If those two are in chaos, the rest will be equally chaotic.

Image centric content will rule. This author agrees with this trend. It is a long-established best practice that image and video content increases the engagement with social posts. I predict that the use of memes by brands will increase in 2014. “I don’t always use images in my post, but when I do…..”

Less will be more. Less is always more. Consumers don’t read. They skim. Consumers don’t watch. They glimpse. Learning to master the skimmer and the glimpser are key to success. Brands are getting better at it and will continue to do so in 2014.

Mobile friendly content will be necessary. This is an undrstatement akin to “oxygen is crucial to life on earth.” Mobile traffic accounts for 17.4% of total web usage (Mashable, August 2013). With responsive web design now the gold standard, and CMS platforms such as WordPress making responsive themes almost a requirement, there is really no excuse at all for not accounting for mobile traffic. In 2014, the lack of a mobile site will represent a downgrade in your credibility in the eyes of your consumer.

Ad retargeting will grow in effectiveness. Psychological studies that have shown that simple exposure to brand names and logos creates familiarity, which builds trust and makes consumers more likely to make a purchase. So, showing an ad to a consumer repeatedly and on different web sites of similar topics, called retargeting, is an obviously attractive tactic. A kissing cousin to retargeting is behavioral targeting, which should also see some uptick in 2014.

SEO and social signals will become even more intertwined. In the old days, you had a web site. Then you had a web site and blog. Then you had a web site and a blog and Facebook page. Now, you have an online footprint, which is to include your web site, blog, social profiles, ratings listings, press articles and media coverage- the whole ball of wax. The whole mass is managed as a single entity with numerous moving parts. All of this impacts your SEO efforts.

Online marketing has come a long way from your basic banner ads. It is now viewed as an aggregate mixture of everything you do and say online. Technology is improving and making it all easier to manage. And that’s perhaps the greatest trend for 2014- the ability and willingness of brands to manage their online presence.

For more information about Online Marketing Trends for 2014, contact our law marketing experts at 1-800-877-2776.

Content marketing is a relatively new term that continues to gain a more cohesive definition by the day. Marketing the content on a blog is a job within itself. Those that attempt to market and write their own blogs often fall short as there is just not enough time for one person to adequately complete each task.

Content marketing is not a one-person job. There should be a hierarchy if a blog is going to be successful. It starts at the top with a strategy. This strategy needs to be communicated by the person in charge (i.e. owner, CEO, vice president). Whatever title the person in charge holds, they need to be the one who comes up with a company strategy.

Next in line is the person in charge of production management (i.e. editor, production manager). This person needs to focus on managing. Taking on the responsibilities of writing will limit a manager’s effectiveness. Many unsuccessful managers fail because they take on too many responsibilities.

Managers need to be able to communicate clearly of what is expected to those working under them. That is why it is important for managers to assemble a team of writers who they can rely upon. A careful selection process when it comes to hiring the right kind of writers will go a long way.

Writers and proofreaders comprise the third and final group in this hierarchy. It is a tremendous advantage if managers can attract reliable writers who are capable of producing quality work on a consistent basis. If editors are not so lucky, they could take the freelance route and adjust their staff from one week to the next.

If your company is looking for quick content, going with freelance writers may be your only option. Posting a Craigslist ad or searching through e-lance can introduce you to some candidates. However, every manager usually has a horror story or two when it comes to freelancers. Does that mean hireing a freelancer is a poor move? Not at all. But managers need to be wary as they weed out potential candidates.

When a quality candidate is found, give them a reason to stick around and be part of your team. In the long run, it will make everyone’s life much easier.

That will free managers up to do what they are intended to be doing. Managers need to carry out the strategy put in place by the person in charge. There are numerous strategies to choose from, one of which is being able to build a community.

The immediate thought that usually comes to mind when building a community is to spread the word via Twitter or Facebook. But those are not the only means of getting out your message.

Blogs enable you to present your business in a more casual manner. Blogs can be used by businesses to educate readers while also announcing new products. Interacting with reader comments is also a way of enticing readers to become part of your community. Video sharing via your own yourbube channel is another route you can take as well.

Social media is a good avenue, but much of the time it reaches out to people who already know something about your business. That is why it is important to take things a step farther and take advantage of search engines. That can happen by continuing to produce a high number of blogs while maximizing your SEO power. New and fresh content not only maintains interest in pre-existing relationships but it also helps foster new ones.

None of that is possible without content marketing. However, it is important to remember those two words in that order. The content always comes before the marketing and it is up to the hierarchy of the business to maintain that chain of command.

One great company that has many years of experience in writing law blog and website copy is LegalContentWriters.com.

Facebook, as a platform, loves activity, and they provide you with real estate when you establish your page. There are elements of the page that you can control. Learning to maximize these elements and make the most of the real estate can increase your activity and literally make or break your page. Here are 5 simple things you can do to increase activity on your Facebook page without spending a dime on ads or other marketing.

Profile Photo. The profile photo is what appears next to every interaction of yours on Facebook. Most businesses use this space to showcase their logo. The problem is that Facebook automatically places your company name next to your profile photo in every instance it is shown. Branding value aside, Facebook is about maximizing social opportunity, NOT showcasing your brand. Using your logo as your profile photo is a redundant waste of space. Instead, use a photo of an actual person. Further, change your profile photo at least twice a month. Because Facebook users do not go to Facebook to read information from businesses, the instant they see your profile photo, their brain is already learning to ignore the image in their news feed. So, changing the image is a clever way of tricking your audience into paying attention. By following this practice, you will see your page interactions increase by 30%.

Cover Photo. The cover photo is the largest piece of real estate that Facebook gives you. Most companies either use it to showcase product or service or, heaven forbid, their logo (again). The cover photo should show your brand being social. The cover photo should show happy people doing happy things. Plus, the cover photo should change at least once per month. Most Facebook activity occurs in the News Feed, so most will never see your cover photo unless you change it and it appears in their feed. Because it is the largest piece of editable real estate on your page, Facebook gives it priority in the newsfeed.

Timeline/Newsfeed. Again, most Facebook activity occurs in the news feed. Always use a photo or video or link in your posts. People don’t read text. They look at photos and watch videos. Use Facebook Insights to determine your peak time for activity on your page and schedule your posts during those times. Your posts will only be read if your audience is only when the content is published. You will see your page activity double if not triple by following this very simple best practice.

App Thumbnails. If you use apps, then Facebook gives you the ability to customize the thumbnails and the order in which they appear. You can be creative with this real estate and use the space to say something unique that gets noticed.

Topics selection. Don’t simply broadcast information about your business. Remember, the branding effect of Facebook occurs whenever you post about ANYTHING. So, you can post about the weather and still achieve a touchpoint with your audience. Post content should break down in this proportion: 50% comments on current or humorous events, 30% community announcements, and 20% sales-oriented posts. Stick to this formula and your interaction will improve significantly.

Facebook is all about joining and creating conversation. Not dominating it. These 5 simple best practices are easy ways to accomplish this.

Call for your free consultation with an expert, not a sales rep.

For more information about Social Media Marketing, contact LawyerSuccess.com at 1-800-877-2776.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is designed to increase visibility for lawyers’ websites and make your Internet brand easier to locate by legal consumers.

Here are the tried-and-true Top-10 for lawyers’ websites:

Legal content. Optimized legal content has everything to do with drawing legal consumers to websites for lawyers. It’s pivotal for your landing page and the rest of your webpages to contain valuable, relevant legal content, because that’s what legal consumers are looking for when they enter the search.

Legal consumers. Websites for lawyers target a very specific audience: legal consumers. Depending upon your areas of practice, that definition can be narrowed to legal consumers in search of your specialty. Legal consumers are the reason lawyers’ websites exist.

Keywords. SEO professionals perform online traffic reporting to identify keywords that make your Internet brand more identifiable to legal consumers. Legal content is optimized using relevant keywords. Avoid “keyword stuffing” and other tactics that are counterintuitive to SEO strategy.

Internet brand. This is the online counterpart to your offline law practice. This isn’t just about the appearance of lawyers’ websites, although the logo, graphics, and other images are important, too. This is about understanding your SEO and social media strategies, and how it relates to your identity. Search engines identify your Internet brand through SEO. Legal consumers find your Internet brand online using search engines.

Clickability. Simple navigation persuades legal consumers to stay at lawyers’ websites for a visit. Icons, links, and highlighted text should be easy to identify when a legal consumer is scanning a webpage. Clean, unbroken links and pages that load quickly make clickabilty simple work.

WordPress. This is “the beast” of tools for lawyers’ websites and everyone else. WordPress loves SEO! The free software is an optimization-wealthy environment, and simple to customize using plugins (do the research). WordPress can be customized to make your Internet brand more appealing to legal consumers.

Links. A website for lawyers needs links to drive legal consumers to the site. Link stuffing gets messy, and linkspam should be eradicated – both can jeopardize your search engine rankings.

Images. An inviting image or two can make your message loud and clear to legal consumers. Much like legal content, images generate metadata that search engines seek as their spiders crawl the ‘net. This means optimized titles and tags are quite important to the identification of your Internet brand.

Smartphones. Legal consumers, like most Americans, are dependent upon their smartphones and other mobile devices. Shrinking lawyers websites to fit a smartphone screen isn’t practical, but you can build a smartphone-friendly version of your site. Apps are also an excellent way to bridge the smartphone gap, and are ripe for optimization.

Prioritize. Legal consumers are your priority and, no matter how excellent your SEO strategy is, losing site of the audience your targeting can doom your Internet brand. This means legal content that is focused, and relevant to legal consumers – and keeping it fresh by uploading 4-5 legal blogs per week.

The practice of law and maintaining a legal office is plenty to keep any lawyer busy without adding a lawyer website to the load. Right? Actually, a lawyer website is intended to make your life easier, not invoke the “all work and no play” rule. The purpose is to draw prospective clients to your practice, and to save you time by allowing you the luxury of focusing on your clients and their legal matters.

That’s where Lawyer Success, Inc. comes in. Our consultants develop criteria, based upon an interview with you. Then, using your information, our team designs a custom website – with No Risk, and No Cost to you upfront. We appreciate that lawyers are busy people, and we respect your time. Our goal is to save you both time and money, and for your lawyer website to bring you a favorable outcome.

Lawyer Success, Inc. stays up-to-date on the technological advances and changes that are important to your legal content, and can help you modify and maintain your lawyer website so it remains in the upper echelon with prospective clients searching the Web.

Because lawyer websites have a specific purpose, it’s important to make them as welcoming as possible online:

User-friendly – Prospective clients like user-friendly websites. Your lawyer website serves as a cyber-introduction between you and the client. The old adage holds true: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

Branding – This is your good name, your practice areas, and what makes your practice better than those of your competitors. Lawyer website visibility is key to Internet branding.

Social networking – Your lawyer website connects with social media (e.g., Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are among the most popular), which helps move-up your site in Google rankings and makes it more accessible to prospective clients from iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, Androids, and other smart phones.

All lawyers practice law in some form or fashion and, oftentimes, specialize in certain practice areas. A lawyer who specializes in corporate law, for instance, is likely to refer a client with a child custody issue to a lawyer who primarily handles family law matters. You market your firm based upon these practice areas, you attend CLE (continuing legal education) to improve your knowledge in your practice areas, and you gain experience in your area of specialty when you practice law.

Likewise, Lawyer Success, Inc. has areas of specialty which involve lawyer website marketing, legal content writing, lawyer website design, and a host of concepts specific to the field of computer science — protocol, networking, data transfer, application codes, environment, and more. Our team consists of marketing consultants, design engineers, lawyers, and computer scientists to bring you the best lawyer website experience in the business. We’re the experts for your lawyer website.

Computer science and lawyer websites

Our computer scientists, for example, enable Lawyer Success, Inc. and our clients to exist on the cutting-edge of cyber-technology, keeping-up with the latest online trends for effective lawyer website implementation. Did you know that Google’s recent Panda and Caffeine algorithm updates place further emphasis on ranking lawyer websites that offer legal content featuring unique topics and niches, as well as categorizing the relevancy of legal content? Although Google denies that links significantly impact algorithm (and, therefore, your lawyer website rankings), the search engine company has removed “link farms” and stripped their servers of websites that rely primarily on reused or rewritten content in order to conserve space (reportedly recovering 12-percent of their database previously occupied by the alleged “content thieves”).

Search engines use algorithm to evaluate your lawyer website, then place a ranking value on it. If your new website is poorly designed, poorly written, or poorly optimized, your domain is assigned a low value. A lower ranking is problematic in relation to your desire for better search engine rankings. Our computer scientists have a thumb-on-the-pulse of the evolving technology supporting lawyer websites, ensuring that any changes Google and other search engines engineer are seamless for Lawyer Success, Inc. and our clients. The other good news is that our technical experts are available for 24/7-support to answer questions or make updates to your website or blog!

Prior to launching a business blog, there are several factors to consider. Some of these are about style and function; others are about content and readership. Ultimately, all of these details, whether big or small, are crucial when developing a successful blogging platform. The following are several tips to explore before you launch your new business blog:

Differentiate your blog from others. There are thousands of blogs out there in the business blogosphere. It’s important you are able to differentiate yourself from others, and how your business stands out in your niche market. One way to accomplish this is by providing diverse content via commentary, featuring other articles, and linking other sites and content.

Communication is key. The language you use to communicate with your audience is incredibly important. Try and avoid too much legal jargon, or language and wording that may come across too complex and/or challenging for the average reader.

Headline your content. By providing headlines and sub-headlines with your articles and blog posts, your readers will have a much easier time navigating and exploring the content of your blog.

Layout. The layout of your blog is extremely important from a visual point of view for readers. Make sure that it isn’t too cluttered or to confusing to navigate.

Keep it Simple. Try not to use too many different fonts, colors, sizes, etc. Keeping everything consistent and cohesive is key.

Include abanner. Including a banner on the home page of your blog establishes to readers the content and objective of your blog. It also gives them an overall sense of the nature or your business and the types of issues and subject matter your blog addresses. The best place for a banner is at the top of the page.

Be concise with content. Most readers like to search and sift through as much content as possible when reviewing online material. That’s why it’s important to try and utilize as many ways to be concise and to the point as possible with articles and posts. A few things to consider implementing: headlines, subheadings, bullet points, italics, charts and graphics.

Blog Maintenance. Regardless of the phase of development of your blog—whether launching or revamping, it’s imperative you test, oversee, and fine tune your blog on a regular basis to make sure there are no technical issues that could impede its functioning.

Blog statistics. It’s a good habit to check on your blog’s search results weekly, or per campaign, etc. Keeping an eye on your blog’s visibility and exposure will allow you to measure your blog’s performance.

Promote your blog. When promoting your blog consider a few of these resources: paid traffic with search engines, PPC and banner ads, and/or utilizing social media links such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Guest articles. Another great way to promote your blog and generate interest and traffic to your site is by writing articles for other blogs in your area of practice and/or other relevant subject matter.

Blog directories. Blog directories are a great way for people to find out about your blog, being directed to your site by credible and reliable sources. It is also a cost efficient way to market your blog without having to spend very little or no money at all.

Other social media. Stay connected consistently through your other social media accounts—Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and LinkedIn. If you don’t have these set up, its quick and easy, and a great way to create a consistent marketing campaign.

Create promotional opportunities. Connecting yourself with other blogs, personalities, and leaders in your field through guest articles, interviews, etc, will bring exposure and traffic to your site. Another easy and effective way to promote your blog.

Call us toll free (800) 877-2776 to speak with an expert for more information regarding all of your law firm blogging needs. Get started today with your new law firm business blog!

Creating a new blog can seem challenging. There are many aspects to consider and develop besides the content itself. There are also many key practices outside of blogging that will help generate traffic as well as create an audience for your site. Consider the following tips to help you get started:

1. Inbound links. Developing inbound links are a great way to generate traffic to your blog. There are several online directories where you can submit your blog for free. Simply give them your company’s name and a basic overview of your services, and you’ve automatically given your blog more exposure without much effort.

2. Share your content. Make it a point to be able to share your content easily on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. You should also consider doing such with other social bookmarking sites.

3. Repurpose your content. Kick-up your site traffic through email newsletter s and subscriptions sent weekly or monthly. Not everyone will read new posts immediately, so it’s important to keep yourself out there, in front of your audience.

4. Twitter. Twitter can be a very useful marketing tool if utilized correctly. Focusing on your target audience in a relevant, purposeful way will signal visitors to your site. Twitter is an excellent social media tool that can become your blog’s number one way to generate targeted traffic.

5. Guest bloggers. Another way to create interest and bring viewers to your site is to invite others to guest blog. Be careful though, you want to be selective about who you invite and what they will post.

6. Forums. Allowing readers to comment and create dialogue on your blog is another way to generate traffic to your blog. Consider being proactive about this approach by facilitating such opportunities via forums created by you on particular topics that allow visitor to speak freely on.

7. RSS Subscription. Creating an RSS Subscription or your blog is essential. Place the feed button at the top of your blog’s homepage so it’s visible to site visitors.

8. Email Subscription. Inviting visitors to subscribe to your blog via email is a must. This allows you to have access to your readers, and be in touch with them on a regular basis. The best place to have a subscription link for your email newsletter is within your blog’s sidebar.

9. Blog analytics. Every so often it’s a good idea to take an accounting of your blog’s analytics to get and idea of what posts and content are generating the most traffic. You can also take inventory of what search terms are used most frequently, where your traffic is coming from, page views, the links readers have clicked on, etc.

10. Call to action. Creating a call to action gives your readers a clear idea of your blog’s objectives and purpose. It also allows your site visitors to know how to engage with your company’s services. Whatever you choose to say about your business, make sure it’s something effective and to the point, and that it doesn’t require much consideration. A call-to-action will be beneficial in separating real potential client’s from visitors that just want to read your blog’s content, and has no true interest in hiring you for your services.

In addition to the above, there are many things to consider when creating a blog. Hopefully, some these tips will help put you in the right direction and get you on your way to establishing a successful business blog.

For more information about starting a new law firm blog, call us toll free at (800) 877-2776 to speak with an actual blogging expert and not a sale representative. We are here and ready to assist you and help you get started!

The following essential considerations will help you create a successful new business blog:

Know your audience. Having a sense of your audience and understanding who they are is crucial to creating content that satisfies their needs and interests. Generally, it takes a fair amount of research to gain this type of knowledge. It also takes time, but the more time you take to understand this, the more efficient you will be with publishing articles and developing a growing audience. One way to accomplish this, is simply to engage your readers by initially posting a variety of content when first getting started with your blog, and see how they respond. Slowly but surely, you will be able to get focused on the type of articles your visitors gravitate towards.

Create a catchy call-to-action. A good call-to-action signals site visors about the purpose and intent of your blog. It can be a short phrase or statement that you constantly reiterate on your site and include at the end of your published articles. Keep your message concise, simple and to the point. Although you can utilize other social media to get this message across (i.e. Twitter), your best bet is the site itself. Placement of your call-to-action on your blog is also a very important in terms of getting it out there to your audience. The top banner on your blog home page, or at the end of each post, are two key places to consider, rather than the sidebars on your site.

Stay true to yourself. Creating an audience for your blog develops over time, and a big part of this is your readers knowing what to expect and taking a genuine interest in the content you publish. This is all about maintaining integrity and consistency with your blog, and essentially staying true to yourself, the values and content you’re promoting, and most importantly your voice. A writer’s voice is one of the most overlooked aspects of blogging, when it should be the first and foremost consideration. Writing isn’t necessarily about choosing a topic and what you have to say, it’s about finding the right voice, and how you say it. Blogs create a following because their readers care about the voice of the writer and/or publisher.

Create catchy headlines. The most effective way to grab a readers’ attention when they visit your site, is to create catchy headlines and sub-headlines throughout your blog. Before a reader begins to read a post or chooses an article to read, they have to want to and notice it exists. Often times this has no bearing on the quality of the content itself. Instead, it’s more about commanding the attention of your readers and engaging their curiosities with effective headlines so they take the next step of actually reading posts. People have only give themselves moments of time to decide if they want to read a given post, and your headline plays a large role in enticing them to do so. An effective headline is also makes it easy and desirable for readers to share your post with others. Make sure to keep your headlines brief, simple, and bold.

Give your email list priority. Developing an email list or a database of email subscriptions is imperative if you are creating a blog to promote and market your business. This is not an option. For most business blogs, the blog itself isn’t even considered their “community,” their email lists are. They should be the priority, before self-promotion and deliberate marketing, when it comes to your blog and its content. Paying attention and giving value to your readers, by selecting and writing content focused on their concerns and curiosities, should be your top priority. Statistically, a simple home page design with relevant information about what readers can expect received higher ratings and a greater response over a more complicated home page version with less information about the actual newsletter and how to subscribe.

To speak with an expert law firm content writer about all of your blogging needs, call toll free (800) 877-2776. We are ready and available to help answer any additional questions you may have with getting started on your new law firm business blog!